Articles by Assel Satubaldina

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed the decree approving the National Security Strategy for 2021-2025, reports the Akorda press service. The National Security Strategy that was previously approved at a meeting of the Security Council chaired by First President Nursultan Nazarbayev contains updated approaches to protecting the country’s national interests. The strategy is…

NUR-SULTAN – When millions of people were forced into lockdown last year, healthcare workers were on the frontline to combat the pandemic. Stuck in hospitals for days and weeks they were saving lives when little was known about the virus. June 20 marked Healthcare Worker Day in Kazakhstan, another reminder of the tremendous contribution healthcare…

NUR-SULTAN – Australia and Kazakhstan have a lot more opportunities that remained untapped and though COVID-19 might have disrupted some of the plans, the will to develop cooperation is still there, said Ian Biggs, Assistant Secretary for Afghanistan & Regional Branch at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in an interview with The Astana…

NUR-SULTAN – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reiterated Kazakhstan’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 and called for greater efforts to ensure the country’s electricity is generated from more environmentally friendly sources at the meeting that reviewed the country’s gas industry, reports Akorda press service. Achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, however, will require structural, industrial, and…

NUR-SULTAN – Over 30 years, the United States has invested US$53.7 billion into the Kazakh economy. The two countries hosted a virtual business forum June 14-15 that marked 30 years of diplomatic relations, reports the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.  The two-day event, which brought together more than 500 participants and was co-hosted by the Kazakh Ministry…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Minister of Healthcare Alexey Tsoy urged the country’s officials to accelerate vaccine rollout at a June 15 government meeting. Kazakhstan administered nearly four million doses of vaccine. As of June 16, 2,587,884 people in Kazakhstan received at least one dose of vaccine against COVID-19, which accounts for nearly 26 percent of the…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Commissioner for Human Rights Elvira Azimova briefed the diplomatic missions in Kazakhstan on the nation’s ongoing reforms in human rights and the rule of law, reports the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. She spoke about the work she has been doing as the nation’s Ombudsperson and the draft law on the Ombudsperson developed by…

NUR-SULTAN – Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin noted the high level of strategic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates during the visit of Emirati Minister of State for Food and Water Security Mariam Almheiri to the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, according to the Prime Minister’s press service.   Some of the leading Emirati companies…

NUR-SULTAN – Astana Opera House opens a summer season with a series of open air concerts in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, reports the theatre’s press service. The concerts will be held in front of the Affari business center on Mambetova Street and at the Central City Park amphitheater. Masterpieces of the Vocal Music concert will…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke about the need for greater economic diversification and greener solutions in the economy at the 33rd session of the Foreign Investors’ Council hosted June 10 by the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, reported the Akorda press service. The session was attended by senior Kazakh officials, heads of large multinational companies,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan has been elected to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations for 2022-2024 at the 73rd plenary session of the UN General Assembly, reports the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press service.  Kazakhstan’s candidacy to the council was supported by 180 UN Member States. This is the second time the Central…

NUR-SULTAN – Though the coronavirus infection does not seem to be going anywhere, there are some signs of improvement in Kazakhstan. Only the Kazakh capital city of Nur-Sultan is left in the high-risk red zone, said Kazakh Minister of Healthcare Alexey Tsoy at a Junе 10 government meeting.  Six regions –  Almaty city, Atyrau, Pavlodar,…

NUR-SULTAN – The National Bank of Kazakhstan updated its forecast for the country’s economic growth to 3.6-3.9 percent in 2021 and at 4.0-4.3 percent for 2022, reports the National Bank press service.  “The main factors behind the revised forecast were the higher oil price and expansion of positive fiscal impulse on the background of upward…

NUR-SULTAN – People violating the self-isolation regime will face an administrative fine starting June 10, said the country’s Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control in a statement.  People diagnosed with coronavirus and people who have been in contact with infected patients are required to self-isolate. Failure to do so will entail an administrative fine of…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and UN Secretary-General António Guterres discussed priority areas of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United Nations during their June 4 virtual meeting, reports the Akorda press service. The sides focused on joint efforts to address the pandemic, tackle climate change, and ensure regional security and stability. Tokayev and Guterres…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan has entered the low-risk green zone as the epidemiological situation improves in the country. Only two regions – the capital city Nur-Sultan and the Karaganda Region – are left in the high-risk red zone.  Almaty city as well as Atyrau, Akmola, West Kazakhstan, and the Pavlodar regions are in the yellow zone,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan and the Netherlands signed agreements in the development of agriculture exceeding 100 billion tenge (US$232.5 million) during the visit of the Dutch delegation to Kazakhstan, reports Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service. Agreements were signed to launch joint projects for the development of horticulture and seed potato production in Kazakhstan, as well as…

NUR-SULTAN – Armenian President Armen Sarkissian visited the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan June 3, where he met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the First President Nursultan Nazarbayev, reported the Akorda press service. During the meeting, the heads of state discussed the development of Kazakh-Armenian cooperation, particularly ways to strengthen political dialogue, trade, economic, cultural and…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Beibit Atamkulov reported on the aviation sector and said that domestic air travel has been fully resumed during his meeting with the population on June 2, reports the Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service. The civil aviation industry was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.…

NUR-SULTAN – Uzbekistan’s Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov visited the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, where he met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, his Kazakh counterpart Askar Mamin and other senior officials, reports the Akorda press service. During their meeting with Aripov, Tokayev said that current levels of bilateral cooperation demonstrate the high stability in relations amidst current…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan hosted the third Energy Saving Forum on May 28 gathering government officials, representatives of international organizations, and experts, reports the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development. The task is set to reduce the energy intensity of Kazakhstan’s gross domestic product by 30 percent by 2030 and by 50…

NUR-SULTAN – The first batch of China’s CoronaVac vaccine arrived in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, said Kazakh Minister of Healthcare Alexey Tsoy at the government meeting, reports Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service.  The first batch includes 500,000 doses. This makes the choice of vaccines wider for Kazakh citizens with four vaccines available now along with Russia’s…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed the closing session of the 74th World Health Assembly that ran from May 24 to June 1 and gathered delegations from all 194 WHO member states. The theme of this year’s World Health Assembly was ending this pandemic and preventing the next – building together a healthier, safer,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reaffirmed his country’s commitment to chair the 12th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference scheduled to be held in the end of November and beginning of December during his virtual meeting with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday, reports the Akorda press service.  The meeting focused on the preparations ahead…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects the level of foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan to rise back to the pre-pandemic level at the turn of 2022-2023. The prognosis, along with the results of previous foreign investments and current projects in development, was shared by the Ministry at a press briefing on May 31.…